1,720,973 research outputs found
Exploring the Diversity of Religion
No full textThis article considers the importance of “religion” and “identity” in the process of fieldwork in the North Cachar Hills, Assam, India. The political sensitivities in the region provided a difficult context in which to do fieldwork. This is chiefly because of the various armed insurrections, which have arisen as a consequence of the complicated remnants of British colonialism (1834–1947), and the subsequent post-independence challenge of nation building in India. This article raises important methodological questions concerning fieldwork and the relational grounding of the fieldworker relative to the inside/outside positions. It reflects on these issues by discussing the Heraka, a Zeme Naga religious movement. Their ambiguity and “in-between” character accommodates both the “neo-Hindu” version of a nation or Hindutva (Hinduness) and the larger Naga (primarily Christian) assertion of their own cultural and religious autonomy. The Heraka provides an alternative route into ideas of nationhood, religious belonging and cultural identity.</jats:p
Who sings for the Hornbill?: the performance and politics of culture in Nagaland, Northeast India
Full text linkThis photo essay reflects on the annual Hornbill Festival celebrated bythe Nagas of Nagaland in Northeast India. It provides an ethnographicaccount of the various activities and the different actors involved in theFestival, and examines what makes this a compelling tourist destination.The state of Nagaland capitalises on the colourful image of the Festivalas an ‘exotic’ location, which plays on the warrior and tribal identity oftenassociated with the Nagas; ideas of ‘traditional’ culture; and the mountainousand pristine landscape. While the region has witnessed over fifty yearsof armed conflict between the Indian state and different Naga nationalistsdemanding independence, the Festival provides a creative public spacewhere all sections of society – urban/rural; students/politicians/administrators;Indian army/Naga nationalists – can freely mingle, a temporary lull from theotherwise pervasive militarised landscape
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